The Secret of the Malfoy Name

Chapter XXVII: Returning to Hogwarts

09/26/1996
The cold wind of the early morning blew on their faces as they flew over the ocean. It would take them hours to get to Hogwarts and Draco couldn’t see the time to take a shower and get inside his warm bed. He held Hera close to his chest as they whooshed away from the castle and realized how much he had missed the little girl he loved so much. Yes, no matter how much pain she had put him through, he never stopped loving her, which made him kick himself every time he thought about it.

But there was something different now. The warmth of her body against his didn’t neutralize the coldness inside of him. He would still do anything for her, but now, she was just her sister, not his friend, and that made him so sad that he pulled her closer. He wanted everything to go back to how it had once been; the two of them first and the rest of the world second. But he knew that wouldn’t happen. Even though she was still a three year-old in his eyes, she was about to turn nine and, before he knew it, she would be all grown up; an independent teenager whose last idea of fun would be to spend time with her older brother.

Suddenly, he realized how good it was to have Harry by his side. Without him, he would’ve been left completely alone. No family, no friends, no little Hera to take care of.

‘Will you ever forgive me?’, a small voice got to his ears.

‘You’re the seer… you tell me’, he answered, sounding a lot harsher than he had intended.

‘I… Draco, I’m so sorry’, she cried. She hardly ever said his name instead of Draky, and that stunned him even more than the tears. ‘It really was the only thing I could do. I just wish you would believe me…’

‘I do believe you… but you have no idea how much it pained me the way you treated me. You know, usually I can see your emotions in the way you speak and your gestures… but this time, you really fooled me.’

‘Of course I did! I had to make the Dark Lord believe me, and that’s not easy, believe me.’

‘Right… how did you manage to deceive him, anyway?’, he asked intrigued.

‘Believing my own lies, trusting in my words to save us all. Besides, having the certainty that it’ll work, makes it a lot easier. He had a very powerful mind, but being a seer made mine top it’, she beamed.

‘Your modesty astonishes me’, he laughed and ruffled her blonde hair. He remained silent for a moment and snorted. ‘It’s unbelievable… I can’t stay mad at you for one bloody hour, can I?’

She hugged him and whispered in his ear, ‘So, how’s everything between you and Harry?’

‘Amazing’, he said as he looked fondly at the brunette, who was carrying the robe full of wands. ‘It’s funny how I never would have even thought about kissing him on the cheek before you interfered. Which reminds me, I never thanked you for that…’, he grinned.

‘You don’t need to thank me, it was meant to be.’

Draco smiled. He really liked Harry a lot. He hadn’t given a lot of thought as to why he did, but there was something about his innocence and his strength that made him unique to his eyes. He was, in other words, a male Hera Malfoy. He needed Draco to take care of him emotionally, but he was more than capable to save the whole world if he meant to. And just like Hera, Harry was the only one who could knock him down with only a few words, a glance or a single touch, only Harry wasn’t aware of it.

It took them hours to reach the train track of the Hogwarts Express. Draco hadn’t noticed how long they had flown when they where trying to get Hera back from their father’s grip, but now that they weren’t in danger anymore, the journey was exhausting. The sun was beginning to hurt his eyes and the lack of sleep didn’t help either. But they were close to their destination… that was the only thing that kept him going.

He was about to ask Harry to stop for a while when he first saw the top of Hogwarts’ tallest tower emerge on the horizon, behind the magnificent green mountains that had blocked their view until that moment. Draco leaned forward to speed his Nimbus even further and whooshed by Harry’s side as though he had just seen the golden snitch right in front of him.

‘Hey, wait up!’, Harry yelled and sped along with him cheerfully.

‘We’re going to make it, Potter… this time, we’re really there…’

‘Didn’t I tell you we’d get out of there alive? You should trust my words a little more often’, he beamed. ‘So, what now?’

‘What do you mean?’, Draco asked.

‘Well, after we get to school, will we still be… together? I know it’s stupid, but this last days meant a lot to me, but I’m not sure about how you feel about this whole thing. After all, you care so much about your reputation and…’

‘Harry, will you just shut up?’, Draco laughed. ‘I’m not going to leave you. I like you too. A lot, actually.’

‘Good…’, Harry breathed out. ‘Good…’

Draco’s stomach groaned and he hoped they wouldn’t arrive too late for breakfast. In a matter of minutes, the miniature image of the castle grew until it got to its real size. The Slytherin woke Hera up and whispered in her ear that they were home. She looked at the castle in awe and smiled sleepily.

‘I like it’, she said quietly, and closed her eyes again.

‘Hey, don’t you fall asleep again. We’re about to land’, he laughed and kissed her on the forehead.

They crossed the lake and lowered the velocity as they flew above the grounds and, as they reached the entrance, they descended and got off their brooms. Harry stretched and Draco put Hera down to do the same. He cracked his fingers, took Hera’s hand and the three of them walked into the castle. A few armours turned their heads around as they walked towards the Great Hall, Harry opened the door for them and they walked into the room packed with students that immediately fell silent. Draco froze by the door, not knowing what to do, before he realized Harry was walking in, so he ran to catch up with him. Dumbledore had stood up and his expression was torn between relief and concern. There were several empty seats at the staff table, Mc Gonnagal’s and Snape’s among them, and Draco presumed they belonged to the teachers who were looking for them.

‘Mr. Potter… Mr. Malfoy? Where in Merlin’s name have you been?’, the Headmaster inquired, and they he looked at the little girl with blonde hair, pale skin and grey eyes… clearly a Malfoy. ‘Mr. Malfoy, may I ask who this young lady is?’, he asked more calmly.

‘She’s the reason why we’ve been away. This is Hera Malfoy, my sister.’

The silence that had taken over the Great Hall suddenly broke into whispers. The secret was finally out for everyone to know, and it felt good.

‘Professor, is there any way we can talk about this later?’, Harry asked quietly. ‘It’s a long story and we’re starving… besides, it would be best if we told it more privately.’

‘Of course. Just join your classmates, have some breakfast and come to my office when you’re ready.’

‘Thank you, Professor’, Harry and Draco both said.

Draco glanced at the Slytherin table and his stomach flipped. He didn’t want to face his housemates right now, but he took a step forward. Harry’s hand grabbed him by the shoulder to stop him.

‘Would you like to join me?’, he asked as he gestured towards the Gryffindor table.

‘No… it’s for the best. If I go with you know, as soon as a Slytherin walks by, I’ll end up with a broken lip.’

‘Fine, go ahead. I’ll… see you later, then’, he smiled and walked away to meet his friends.

Draco took a big breath, held Hera’s hand tightly, and they sat together at the table full of angry looking Slytherins. They ate quietly, ignoring the whispers and insults from Draco’s housemates and, as soon as they were finished, they got up and went down to the dungeons, which felt so cold to Draco now, that all he could think of was sitting by the fireplace and falling asleep with his sister in his arms.